Reel carrier



Nov. 20 1923.

1,474,873 a. WOODWARD REEL CARRIER Filed April 15. 1920 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTORl G801; 742 752270 Ola/@221 db,

AI'TORNEYS Nov. 20, 1923. 11,474,873

G. WOODWARD REEL CARRIER Filed April 15, 1920 2 Sheets- Sheet 2 INVENTOR'. til eal; mqmfllwmflj'db Z moi, ATTORNEYQE.

if?! l "W f i 5 1 a 9 6 a I 5 4 Jim W m M i MAM, 5 75 2 Patented Nov. 2U, i923.

UNETED STATEE GEORGE 'W'OODWAR-D, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR T0 IGOE BROS, A COR- PORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

REEL CARRIER.

Application filed April 15, 1920. Serial No. 374,045

To all whom 2'25 may concern Be itknown that I, Gnonon Woonwann, a citizen of the United States, residing at Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Reel Carriers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to characters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates, generally to improvements in that class of devices for the supporting and mounting thereon of coils of wire, rope, and the like; and, the present invention has reference, more particularly, to a novel support in the form of a standard which is provided with supporting means for mounting upon the standard a plurality of reels, each reel carrying a coil of wire, rope, or the like, for feeding the several coils independently and at the same time, to different machines, or other diflerent points of location.

The present invention, therefore, has for its principal object to provide a novel'and simply constructed support, in the form of astandard, carrying a plurality of reel-receiving and supporting members or ele ments, upon each one of which may be removably placed a reel carrying a coil of wire, rope, or the like, said reel-receiving and supporting elements being preferably rotatably disposed with relation to the post or standard upon which said elements are mounted, so that the coil-carrying reels can be variously arranged with a group of machines to which the wire is to be fed: and, furthermore, that one standard can be used for the purpose of feeding wire at one and the same time from a plurality of coilcarrying reels, thereby reducing greatly the costof' production and also considerably economizing in space, since a single standard serves to carry a plurality of reels, from which the coils can be reeled off, independent of and without interfering with one another.

The invention has forits further object to provide in connection with a reel-carryand coil-receiving standard, a reel-re ceiving and supporting element in the form of a horizontally disposed arm for support ing a reel for unreeling purposes, said arm comprising a pair of articulating or jointed members adapted to be locked in horizontal relation to each other, but also adapted to be brought into angular relation to each other for the purpose of more conveniently placing the reel in its operative position upon the reel-receiving arm, or for the purpose of removing the reel therefrom.

Other objects of the present invention not at this time more particularly enumerated will be clearly understood from the following detailed description of the present in vention.

With the various objects of the present invention in view, the said invention consists, primarily, in the novel standard for the purpose of mounting thereon a plurality of coil-carrying reels; and, the invention con sists, furthermore, in the novel arrangements and combinations of the several devices and parts, as well as in the details of the construction of the said parts, all of which will be more fully described in the following specification, and then finally embodied in the clauses of the claims, which are appended to and which form an essential part of the said specification.-

The invention is illustrated in the ac.- companying drawings, in which Figure 1 is an elevation of a reel-receiv ing and carrying standard, showing in connection therewith one arrangement of a plurality of reels. said view representing one embodiment of the principles of the present invention; and Figure 2 is a similar view of a reel-receiving and carrying standard, pro vided with reel-supporting arms of a modified construction, but still embodying the principles of the present invention.

Figures 3 and 4 are a side elevation and a plan or top view, respectively, on an enlarged scale, of one of the reel-supporting arms shown in the construction represented in said Figure 2, the hinged or articulated members of the said arm being illustrated in straightened out relation; and Figure 5 is a side elevation of the said arm, showing the hinged members thereof in their angular relation and in position to receive a reel.

Similar characters of reference are em ployed in the said above described views, to indicate corresponding parts.

Referring now to the several figures of the drawings, it will be seen that the device comprises a suitably formed base 1, which may be secured against tilting by means of a bolt 2, or other suitable fastening means, to the floor, or the like. Extending verti cally from said base 1, by being suitably disposed in a tubular receiving portion of a hub 3 with which said base is provided, or by being otherwise secured to said base, is a standard or post 4-. Suitably secured upon said standard or post a are a plurality oi supporting collars or sleeves 5, said collars or sleeves being preferably movably or slidably disposed upon said standard or post 1, so as to be adjustable with relation to each other and the said standard or post, and each collar or sleeve being adapted to be secured, when so adjusted, in its fixed position upon the said standard or post at, by means of a set-screw 6, or other suitable fastening means. The referencecharacters 7, 7, 7, see Figure 1 of the drawings, represent the previously mentioned reel-receiving and carrying arms or elements, each arm being provided with a perforated or tubular hub 8, said hubs being adapted to he slipped over the said standard or post i, and each hub being rotatably supported upon a sleeve or collar 5, substantially in the manner illustrated in said Figure 1. Similarly, the outer free end-portion of each reel-receiving and carrying arm 7 is also provided with a perforated or tubular hub, as 9.

llotatably disposed in the perforated or tubular hub 9 of each arm 7 is the lower end-portion 11 of a reel-spindle 10, each spindle having suitably secured upon its lower end-portion 11 a supporting collar or flange, as 12, which. rests directly upon the upper surface 01 the hub 9, so as to maintain the operative relation of the spindle 10, and the parts carried by the spindle, as will be evident. Upon the upper end-portion of each spindle 10 is suitably mounted a socketed carrier'plate or element, as 13, with which is suitably connected the coili-eceiving reel 14 of any one of the usual and well-known constructions.

The operations of the several devices comprising the reel-carrier will be clearly un derstood from the toregoing description and from an inspection of said Figure 1 of the drawings, and any further description of the same is therefore deemed unnecessary.

It will be readily evident from said drawing, that when the strands of wire leading from the respective coils mounted upon the several reels are ted into the variously located machines. that the various arms and the reels supported thereon will readily accommodate themselves to the pulling actions from the leading-out wires, and that any one or more reels can be operated at one and the same time, and the unwinding action of each reel not interfering with the unwinding action ofthe other reels.

While in the accompanying drawings, I have shown the standard or post 1 provided with a set of three arms 7 and a reel upon each arm, it will be clearly understood that the number of such arms 7 and reels may be varied, according to the necessary requirements, without departing from the scope of the present invention.

In lieu of the single-form arms 7 shown and described in connection with said Figure 1, reel-receiving elements or arms, comprising hinged or articulating members such as are shown in Figures 2, 3, 1 and 5 may be used.

In this construction each reel-receiving element consists of a pair of members, as 15 and 16, the respective members being provided with pintle receiving ears or lugs, as 1? and 18, for pivotally connecting the said members by means of a pivot-bolt or pin 19. At its free end, the member 15 is provided with a hole or perforation 20 for mounting it upon the standard or post i in the same manner as herein-above described in connection with the construction shown in Figure 1 of the drawings. The other member 16 is provided at its free end with a receiving socket 21, or the like, in which is adapted to be arranged in the manner heretofore described, the lower endportion 11 ot a reel-spindle 10, as will be understood from an inspection of Figure 2 oi the drawings. In order to maintain the straightened-out and fixed horizontal relation of the twomembers 15 and 16, the member 15 is made with a socket 22, in which is inovably disposed a bolt 23 adapted to be actuated by a spring 24, for forcing the end-portion of the bolt 23 into a correspondingly located socket 25 with which the pintle-ear or lug 18 of the member 16 is provided, and as clearly indicated indotted outline in Figure 3 of the drawings. To withdraw the end of the bolt 23 for its holding or retaining engagement with said member 16 and to permit the said member 16' to drop from the position indicated in Figures 3 and at to the angular position shown in Figures 2 and 5, the bolt '23 is provided with a laterally extending lug, projection, or pin, as 26, projecting into and movably disposed in an elongated opening or slot 2'7 in the side of the member 15, so that the said lug or pin 26 can be used as a manipulating means or finger-piece for moving the bolt 23 in the direction of the arrow X, see Figure 3, to withdraw the boltend from the socket 25 of the member 16. as will be clearly understood.

To hold the said member 16 in its dropped position, indicated in said Figures 2 and 5, against swinging movement when a reel and its coil of wire is to be placed in position, the said member has'a projecting portion, as 28, which moves against the lower surface 29 of the member 15, and thereby acts as a stop, as will be evident, bringing the said member into an immovable position to more easily place the end-portion of the reel-spindle 10 in its position in the spindle-receiving socket of said member 16.

The purpose of this articulated or hinged arrangement of the members comprising the reel-receiving and carrying elements of the device represented in said Figure 2, is to enable the use of reelreceivers and carriers with a main post or standard of considerable length, or or easily placing in position reels on which are placed very heavy coils of wire, the reel and its coil being more readily placed in position, when the arm-member 16 has been dropped or lowered into the position shown at the top of said Figure 2, and the supported reel and coil, with said member 16, then being easily swung into operative position, and locked or held in said operative position by the springactuated bolt 23 entering the receiving socket 25 of the said member16.

Of course I am fully aware that changes may be made in the general arrangements and combinations of the several devices and parts, as well as in the details of the con struction of the said parts, without depart ing from the scope of the present invention as set forth in the foregoing specification and as defined in the clauses of the claims which are appended thereto. Hence, I do not limit my invention to the exact arrangements and combinations of the various devices and parts as described in the said specification, nor do I confine myself to the exact details of the construction of the said parts, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

I claim 1. A reel-carrier comprising a standard or post, a plurality of reel-receiving elemcnts. each element consisting of a pair of hinged members,'one of said members being connected with said standard or post, so as to extend laterally at a right angle therefrom, and means connected with the other member for rotatably mounting a reel thereon, a retaining means at the hinged portion of said members for holding said members horizontally in rigid relation, but adapted to be operated so as to allow the reel-carrier to drop and hang vertically with relation to the member which is affixed to the standard or post, and means connected with said first-mentioned member slidably disposed upon said standard or post for vertical adjustment of the entire reel-carrier upon said standard or post.

2. A reel-carrier comprising a standard or post, a plurality of reel-receiving elements. each element consisting of a pair of hinged members, one of said members being connected with said standard or post, so as to extend laterally at a right angle therefrom, and means connected with the other member for rotatably mounting a reel thereon, a retaining means at the hinged portion of said members for holding said members horizontally in rigid relation, but adapted to be operated so as to allow the reel-carrier to drop and hang vertically with relation to the member which is afiixed to the standard or post, and a tubular hub connected with said first-mentioned member slidablw disposed upon said standard or post for vertical adjustment of the entire reel-carrier upon said standard or post.

In testimony, that I claim the invention set forth above I have hereunto set my hand this 13th day of April, 1920.

GEORGE lVOODlVARD. \Vitnesses GEORGE D. RICHARDS, MALCOLM DIGKERSON. 

